ARSA Launches Lift the Ban Survey

The Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) has launched a survey to measure the impact of the ban on new foreign repair station certificates. Congress prohibited the FAA from acting on foreign repair station certificate applications submitted after Aug. 3, 2008, because the TSA had not finalized repair station security rules.

“In an effort to force the TSA to do its bidding, Congress passed legislation banning the FAA from issuing new foreign repair station certificates. It means a repair station located outside of the U.S. cannot be certified regardless of who owns it, even if it’s a U.S.-based OEM. This can have a significant impact on U.S. companies trying to open new international markets,” ARSA executive director Sarah MacLeod, told AIN. “You may be a protectionist and not like the idea of foreign repair stations being allowed to work on U.S. aircraft, but the real issue is that Congress has penalized an entire industry for the TSA’s failure to do what Congress ordered it to do. Why punish us? Shouldn’t they be punishing the TSA instead?”

The purpose of the survey is to establish the economic and trade implications as a result of the Congressional mandate, said MacLeod.

“The ban is an unprecedented example of punishing industry for a federal agency’s inaction. The result is that U.S. aviation companies are barred from tapping into rapidly expanding overseas markets. Its effect is to hinder job creation and growth at home,” she said.“Three years into the ban, the TSA still hasn’t issued its rules, so punishing us obviously hasn’t made the agency do its job any faster. The maintenance industry and its workers are the real victims of a bad law and agency inaction.”

ARSA is asking repair stations to complete the brief survey detailing the impact the prohibition has had on jobs and revenues. The survey will be available online until October 14. ARSA will use the results of the survey to support its efforts on Capitol Hill to repeal the ban.